EQUITY: Sell? Buy? Stay put?

[haha]

He must be unacquainted with markets. What he is talking about is a split, not a reverse split. When stock is reverse split it is usually some stock which has fallen below a dollar, or down to a few bucks. A reverse split, often done 1:4 or maybe 1:10 restores it to a respectable level where it is unlikely to get de-listed, or to be stricken off eligibility lists for some institutions. So in a 1:10 split one might have had 1000 shares trading at $1, after one will have only 100 shares. Theoretically these should trade at $10, but of course they may not. Sometimes they drift on down especially in weak markets. I think some people will buy very low cost shares at times just because their per share $ cost is low. "Penny Stocks".

The weird trading that can take place in very low priced issues is almost funny.

As regards the Dow, and its daily movement, I think people are getting used to thinking in percentages. The radio usually announces, "The Dow closed at 13,111.03 today, falling 131 points or 1% on the day." Also, hearing changes in the Dow, S&P and Nasdaq all with quite different base numbers moves people toward thinking in percentages.

Ha

[dgalbraith100]

For all those who "harvested your losses". I'm sure you know, you can't sell and then immediatly rebuy the same stock. (unless you do that in a IRA). That just creates a wash sale. Also be aware of selling taxable items, and buying them inside the IRA withing +/- 30 days.

wash sale - Google Search

I'm not sure about selling one ETF that tracks some index, and buying a different ETF that tracks the same index. I'd guess that creates a wash sale as well, but I don't know for sure.

Just a little heads up.

Laters,
-d.

[kcowan]

Just got back from a road trip to find that it is Dec 15th 2006 all over again! Maybe I will finally get rid of some of that accumulated cash from profit-taking in the last 9 months. I love a sale.

[twaddle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dgalbraith100 I'm not sure about selling one ETF that tracks some index, and buying a different ETF that tracks the same index. I'd guess that creates a wash sale as well, but I don't know for sure.

Negative. Unless the IRS rules otherwise, it's a free lunch. Woohoo!

[CuppaJoe]

I re-balanced (using tax-deferred accounts) on July 16, nice profit! Sold some more on August 2 (tax-deferred) and August 15 (some taxable), all at big profits over cost basis. When I clicked the last sale, it was like, "F*** it, I'll pay the taxes. Slept very well on the 17h. I am currently 3.4% in equities. Go ahead, Fed, lower the rates, my ginnies await!

I'm looking to get back into equities seriously with new money in the Spring of '08.

Cuppa

[Alex]

nada

[dessert]

I also just got back from a road trip (2 weeks) with no access to internet. I only heard small snipits of CNN and watched the Markets tumble. When I finally checked my 401K, I am still up 5.5% for the year. Believe you me, I thought it was going to be really ugly and I didn't want to even look. I transferred 3% from one fund to another so I didn't really sell anything.
I'm riding it out. I heard a lot of good comments from others on the forum and we still might all be doing a lot better by year's end.
Here's wishing everyone a good ride.